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Wednesday, October 15, 2014

The Most Inconsequential Election Of Our Lives

For about the last ten years or so we have heard that the next election is "the most important" of our lives. The last two presidential contests have certainly fallen into this category, and I can not say that I disagree, to a certain extent. But next month's mid-term elections are shaping up to be the most inconsequential of our lifetimes. No offense to those on the Right and the Left who wish to energize their respective bases to motivate them to vote, but what happens next month is not really going to change America for the better or the worse.
The Republicans have said that they "must" gain control of the United States Senate in order to "save" the country. But even they have admitted that the Harry Reid lead Senate is the least productive in history. So are we to believe that the Republican establishment is going to save us from a body that basically is doing nothing? About the only activity in the Senate these days is the storage of the 350 bills that have been sent over from the House of Representatives that Mr. Reid refuses to allow to the floor of the Senate for debate.
Some on the Right have suggested that it is imperative for Republicans to win the majority in the Senate in order to moderate the president's Supreme Court nominees, if there be any in the next two years. I am not sure where these folks have been the last six years, but there is nothing moderate about Barack Obama, especially not his nominees to any position in government. Any Supreme Court nominee from President Obama will most probably be black, Hispanic, or female, and most definitely will be radically Left. Even under the most generous predictions Republicans will have control of the Senate by 2 or 3 seats. Democrats will always be able to peel away the 3 or 4 Republican votes needed to confirm any nominee the president proffers.
Let us just speculate that the Republicans gain control of the Senate and keep their majority in the House. Any bill that is passed by both Houses of congress and lands on President Obama's desk to be signed into law, will not receive his signature if it does not comport to his agenda. Therefore, there will be no net gain for the American people if the Republicans wrestle control of the Senate away from the Democrats. Either the same "do nothing" Democrat-controlled Senate will remain or a "do something" Republican-controlled Senate will essentially be neutered by a veto-happy president.
Finally, let me address the issue of impeachment. Some slap-happy Republicans actually are holding their collective breaths thinking that if they gain control of the Senate, impeachment of Barack Obama will be a foregone conclusion. In order for that to happen the Republicans would need a gain of 21 seats, and then all vote in lock step to impeach. Furthermore, even if this little miracle happened, there is no way Chief Justice Roberts would allow the impeachment of the first black president. We have already seen how he took extraordinary and unprecedented steps to make sure the president's health care law remained law even though it was a blatant violation of the Constitution.
On November 4 I will be dutifully casting my vote and yawning the whole time. I do not expect anything to change until there is a new executive. The control of congress only matters with a president that respects the constitutional form of government that the Founders created, which Barack Obama does not. He has a pen and a phone, and unfortunately his pen and phone are not on the ballot.